"Praying at All Times!"

INTRODUCTION

A. The Priority of Prayer

Mark 14:32–38 NASB95

They came to a place named Gethsemane; and He said to His disciples, “Sit here until I have prayed.” And He took with Him Peter and James and John, and began to be very distressed and troubled. And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.” And He came and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour? “Keep watching and praying that you may not come into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Prayer is MORE than another piece of the armor—it is woven throughout!

If we are to USE the armor effectively, we must use it in an attitude of prayer!

J. MacArthur: “Prayer is the very spiritual air of the soldier of Christ.”

B. The Presentation of Our Resources

Incredibly blessed (1:3); overwhelmingly loved (1:4-6); forgiven and redeemed (1:7); abounding in wisdom (1:8); spiritually rich (1:11); sealed by the Spirit (1:13); made alive (2:4-6); objects of God’s grace (2:8); prepared for good works (2:10); made one with every other believer (2:13-19); powerful beyond our imagination (3:20); able to glorify God (3:21); possessors of the Holy Spirit (4:3); members of the Body of Christ (4:4-6); recipients of gifts and gifted men to equip us for the work of ministry (4:11-13); taught by Christ (4:20-21); given a new self (4:24); made light (5:8); offered the fullness of the Spirit (5:18); given instructions and resources to make all relationships what God intended (5:21-6:9); given the full armor of God to make us invincible against Satan and his host of demonic forces (6:10-17)!

WOW!

C. The Problem of Spiritual Atheism

1 Corinthians 10:12 NASB95

Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.

It is almost as if Paul is saying, “Don’t think that because you have all these wonderful blessings, gifts, and power, you don’t need God!”

James Russell Lowell – “The gift without the giver is bare!”

Ephesians begins by lifting us up to the heavenlies and ENDS by bringing us to our knees!

(READ TEXT – PRAY)

I. The GENERAL INSTRUCTION – (6:18)

Four sets of “all’s” that provide five themes of prayer:

A. The VARIETY of PRAYER – “With all prayer and petition…”

“Prayer” refers to coming before your Heavenly Father!

Colossians 3:2 NASB95

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.

1 John 1:3 NASB95

what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

“Petition/supplication/requests” refers to specific needs.

1 Timothy 2:8 NASB95

Therefore I want the men in every place to pray, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and dissension.

B. The FREQUENCY of PRAYER – “…pray at all times”

Lit., ‘…in every season’

Luke 21:36 NASB95

“But keep on the alert at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Acts 6:4 NASB95

“But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word.”

1 Thessalonians 5:17 NASB95

pray without ceasing;

There is never a time to not pray!

C. The MANNER of PRAYER – “…in the Spirit”

What does this mean? Is this a reference to praying in tongues?

Romans 8:26–27 NASB95

In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

The Spirit “…intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

D. The WATCHFULNESS and PERSEVERANCE of PRAYER – “…be on the alert with all perseverance”

Jesus told two stories to illustrate these principles:

Luke 11:1–10 NASB95

It happened that while Jesus was praying in a certain place, after He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John also taught his disciples.” And He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. ‘Give us each day our daily bread. ‘And forgive us our sins, For we ourselves also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.’ ” Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves; for a friend of mine has come to me from a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ “I tell you, even though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his persistence he will get up and give him as much as he needs. “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. “For everyone who asks, receives; and he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, it will be opened.

Luke 18:1–8 NASB95

Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. “There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ “For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, yet because this widow bothers me, I will give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will wear me out.’ ” And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge said; now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them? “I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?”

E. The RESPONSIBILITY of PRAYER – “…and petition for all the saints”

I refer to this a RESPONSIBILITY, not because of the text itself, but because of another passage (and yes, I know that is imposing another passage on this passage). Let’s read it and see if this is appropriate:

1 Samuel 12:19–25 NASB95

Then all the people said to Samuel, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king.” Samuel said to the people, “Do not fear. You have committed all this evil, yet do not turn aside from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. “You must not turn aside, for then you would go after futile things which can not profit or deliver, because they are futile. “For the Lord will not abandon His people on account of His great name, because the Lord has been pleased to make you a people for Himself. “Moreover, as for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you; but I will instruct you in the good and right way. “Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. “But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king will be swept away.”

BACK to Ephesians: again, we are told to pray for specific requests of all the saints!

John 14:13 NASB95

“Whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

II. The SPECIFIC ILLUSTRATIONS – (6:19-24)

A. BOLDNESS in PREACHING the GOSPEL – (vv.19-20)

B. INFORMATION on Paul’s Circumstances – (vv.21-22)

C. The INVOCATION – (vv.23-24)